Free Web NovelChapter 10: Chapter 9: The Bear Goblin’s Surprise
After dismissing Bai Mao, Shire suddenly felt the immense weight of his leadership responsibilities.
To be frank, he still identified as human on the inside. He mostly saw his subordinates as he would characters in a video game.
But now he had been told they were about to enter a "crisis period," and a failure to handle it properly would result in a massive loss of manpower.
He also knew that winter was the peak season for Adventurers to hunt goblins. He recalled hearing about a place that held an ear-judging contest. People would evaluate the goblins’ ears based on their size and condition, the amount of hair, and their color and pattern. The winner would receive a handsome reward.
Back then, he’d just listened to it for laughs. Now, he *was* the laugh.
’Time to stockpile food.’ Shire sat on the ground, picked up a branch, and began to calculate in the dirt.
’To avoid running into Adventurers, we’ll have to minimize our trips out for food during the winter. Plus, with the cold weather, our Energy consumption will increase.’ He scribbled and sketched, finally circling a number on the ground. ’I estimate we’ll need to prepare 300 kilograms of rice.’
’As for jerky, we can ramp up our hunting efforts and make it ourselves. The cave provides shelter from the wind. The tricky part will be stopping my subordinates from sneaking food.’
’The food-snatching is a problem,’ Shire thought, glancing at his subordinates sprawled out in a heap. ’But it’s a survival mechanism born from chronic hunger. If I can make sure they’re well-fed for a few consecutive days, and supplement that with a system of punishment, I should be able to curb it effectively.’
’And salt, sugar, and some dried fruit to stock up on.’ Shire continued to add to his list, subconsciously planning his provisions with a human mindset.
’We’ll also need a lot of furs. Even though we’re in the south, it still snows for a few days in the winter here.’
’I need to expand my cooperation with Little John. I’ll suggest he rent a mule, at the very least.’
’So the biggest problem right now is actually figuring out how to get this bunch to hunt enough prey.’
’First, we need weapons.’ Shire kicked the wooden club at his feet. ’This thing could hardly kill a wild boar.’
’And if we run into Adventurers, it would be best to face them with several Long Spears, equipped with Short Swords as well. That way, we could protect ourselves.’
He got up, dusted off his tattered pants, and picked up a burning branch to use as a torch before heading toward the den.
’I hope I can find something good in there. The Bear Goblin was so strong, he must have killed plenty of Adventurers. I should be able to find enough to arm at least half of my subordinates.’
’Armor will be hard to come by, but getting a weapon for everyone shouldn’t be a problem.’
A disgusting, sour stench assaulted his nostrils at the entrance, but it couldn’t extinguish Shire’s enthusiasm for treasure hunting. Full of hope, he stepped into the Bear Goblin’s lair.
Compared to the compact burrow Shire lived in, the Bear Goblin’s den was much larger.
Shire’s group lived in an area of less than 8 square meters. The four goblins were crammed together, and at night, it was either Red Eyes burping or Broken Tooth farting.
The Bear Goblin’s den, however, had a two-room, one-hall symmetrical layout. The entrance opened into a main chamber of about 8 square meters, with a side chamber on the left and another on the right.
The chamber on the left was a storeroom, piled high with various weapons, Armor, and large wooden clubs and Bones. The one on the right was the Bear Goblin’s private "bedroom," while the rest of the goblins were all crammed into the main hall.
The advantage of this layout was that in the event of an attack, his underlings would serve as cannon fodder, allowing the Bear Goblin to adapt to the situation as needed.
Shire couldn’t help but admire the Bear Goblin’s strategic layout. Truly brilliant.
The main hall was littered with gnawed Bones and other trash; there was nothing of use. Full of anticipation, he arrived at the entrance to the storeroom.
A den this large gave Shire a huge boost of confidence. After all, it wasn’t easy to claim such a spacious residence in the forest. With the Bear Goblin’s strength, he must have defeated countless enemies, and his storeroom was probably filled with good loot.
’You’ve gone to so much trouble, my dear Bear Goblin. All these possessions you worked so hard to accumulate... I’ll just have to relieve you of them.’ With that thought, he stepped into the storeroom, his heart brimming with anticipation.
Sure enough, the place was filled with equipment from Adventurers, all of it piled haphazardly everywhere.
Shire hummed a little tune and began to look around. It felt just like looting an NPC’s house in an RPG.
’This knife isn’t bad, still sharp... except it’s been smashed bent.’
’Whoa, a nice piece of Leather Armor! How did the seams get torn apart like this?’
’This Magic Staff... it’s snapped in two.’
’Chest Armor! An Iron Chest Armor! It’s dented, but still usable... wait, no, a goblin can’t fit in it.’
Shire kept digging through the pile. His initial excitement was rapidly fading, but he pressed on, still hoping he might discover something of value.
[Item: Iron Longsword (Damaged)]
[Quality: Crude]
[Use: Stab]
Junk.
[Item: Pine Longbow (Broken String)]
[Quality: Common]
[Use: Shoot]
Junk.
[Item: Leather Armament Belt (Broken)]
[Quality: Crude]
[Use: Wear on waist]
Junk.
...
"You idiot, Bear Goblin! What is all this random junk you’ve been hoarding?"
Shire angrily threw the broken piece of equipment he was holding to the ground. After rummaging through the entire storeroom, he had only managed to find six items that the goblins could use.
Two Short Swords, one Long Spear, a large coil of rope, one Hand Crossbow with a dozen or so Crossbow Arrows, and a Pocket Watch that had stopped working.
Shire fiddled with the Pocket Watch for a moment. After he wound it, its hands began to move again.
"Not bad, a high-tech item." But then Shire immediately scoffed, "What use does a goblin like me have for a Pocket Watch?"
’Oh well. I’ll give this junk to Little John to get rid of. I guess I’ll just have to earn money to buy weapons.’
Beyond the equipment, Shire did find something else of value—Gold Coins.
A total of 152 Gold Coins and a number of Silver Coins and Copper Coins. This was all the wealth of the dead Adventurers. Adventurers don’t deposit their money in banks; they carry it with them, trusting only themselves.
He’d been ecstatic when he first found a dozen or so Gold Coins.
This bone-deep craving for wealth was so consuming that Shire, completely focused on "scratching his lottery tickets," didn’t even notice he had started drooling.
In a world where an ordinary laborer earned only 6 Silver Coins a day, this was no small fortune. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
He deliberately arranged the coins in a pile, sorting and neatly stacking each new one he found.
But as the number of Gold Coins grew, Shire’s smile slowly faded.
He realized that to him, this money was nothing more than a collection of trinkets.
If he were human, this would be a fortune. It would be enough for him to walk into a bar and have someone shout, "All drinks tonight are on Master Xia!"
But he was a goblin now, and these cute little round things were utterly useless to him. If he dared to spend them, the only shouting he’d hear would be at the ear-judging contest: "Tonight’s main attraction is Master Xia!" fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
By the end of it all, Shire had grown numb. He stared at the glittering pile of gold before him, unsure whether to laugh or cry.
"I never thought I’d live the life of someone who counts money until their hands cramp," he said with self-derision.
If he wanted to, he could even spread the coins out and experience what it felt like to roll around in a pile of money.
’It’s hilarious, really,’ he thought. ’The very thing Little John is so desperate to get, I’ve got a whole pile of it right here.’
If Little John ever found out there were 152 Gold Coins here, his tune would probably change to ’how can a great man be content to languish under another?’ in a heartbeat.
He’d have to wait until they had established a solid foundation of trust before he could use this money.
Toying with a Gold Coin in his hand, Shire walked over to the entrance of the Bear Goblin’s "bedroom," his hopes already dashed.
Before he even set foot inside, the stench forced him to take several steps back. Shire even wondered if the fumes were so thick that his torch might ignite them if he dared to enter.
Nevertheless, he decided to go in and see for himself. Do your best and let fate decide the rest.
Unsurprisingly, the room was littered with tufts of unidentifiable fur and other debris. Withered weeds were scattered in messy clumps, and in one corner lay a human leg Bone.
What’s more, that damn Bear Goblin had actually been shitting in its own "bedroom"!
Shire wished he could go back and poke a few more holes in the Bear Goblin’s corpse.
After a quick scan of the chamber, Shire’s mood soured completely. He finally understood why the Bear Goblin’s minions had all carried wooden clubs. He’d assumed it was to prevent them from rebelling, but now he realized it was simply because there were no decent weapons to be had.
It made sense, in retrospect. The Bear Goblin was so strong that any weapon used against it would have been smashed bent or broken to pieces. How could anything have survived intact?
"My luck is just the worst," Shire muttered, preparing to leave.
As he reached the entrance to the chamber, he suddenly had a strange feeling, as if something was calling out to him.
Shire walked back over to a patch of withered grass. He brushed aside the debris, revealing a gray object.
It was a gray, semi-spherical metal object, half-buried in the dirt and covered in irregular geometric patterns.
Shire picked it up and weighed it in his hand. He felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity, as if the object had belonged to him a thousand years ago.
He called up the item panel to inspect it:
[Item: Celestial Tower Key (Fragment)]
[Quality: Divine Level]
[Use: To open the lock to the Heaven-Reaching Tower’s vault]
[Note: Hide it well. Do not let the Gods discover that we have found the path to surpass Them.]
’Huh? What is this thing?’
